The room that the projector is going in has a maximum distance of 12.5 feet from the back wall to projector screen. Ceiling is 9 ft with a drop all the way around the room with the bottom of the drop being at 92". The ceiling in the room is white and wall's are tan in colour. There are two windows bringing in ambient light but the ambient light is controllable and I can dim the room to pretty damn near dark at any given time if I want. So ambient light is a concern to a degree as I would like to watch sports broadcasts and play video games with at least some ambient light. Movies viewing will be in the dark. Screen will be a 92" DIY Fixed with blackout cloth.

Picture of the room for your reference (Im wondering if I should mount mount the PJ from the ceiling or the drop in the back... I want to ceiling mount I lose about 14" in room length):

Now for the choices of Projectors itself. Unfortunately for this room this is going to have to be a budget PJ $800ish' mark. I have limited my PJ selection to the following two maybe three PJ's. From these PJ's Im looking for a suggestion on which one to get. 3D is of no concern to me.

Basically given the above what Im wondering is which projector I should get between the Optoma H20 or Viewsonic PRO8200 and if there is a case to be made for the Epson 8350 to justify its extra price in terms of performance (will the PQ be a lot better over the two?). I have a three year old 47" LCD TV. If I could get close to it in terms of picture quality I would be happy.

Thanks for all your help in advance. Im glad I found this forum. Its been a great resource thus far and helped me narrow down my choices based on my budget but I kind of need a final suggestion on which way to go.

This is pretty easy IMHO out of those three given your room and partial use during some ambient light. The Viewsonic smokes all these in brightness when you consider bright + accurate color, and it would be my pick for several reasons, but it'll be so bright at first you will need an ND filter which tames the brightness. The ND filter is only an extra $50, but you can get cheaper ones. You will be able to remove the ND filter after about 200 to 400 or so hours on the lamp.

Whenever you blow up an image that larger than on a TV, you will notice defects more in a poor signal (even on cable), but it can compete against a TV for a bluray disc, and more importantly the overall immersiveness of the larger image blows the TV away. Black levels and dark scenes won't be quite as rich on the projector, but immersion is the key.

The 8350 has darker blacks than the Viewsonic and better placement flexibility, but the Viewsonic is sharper and better for gaming. DLP has better motion for sports IMHO with a clean signal, but motion isn't really a factor on either for most people. The Viewsonic has a higher pixel fill over the 8350, meaning a smoother image. The Viewsonic cannot get dust blobs. I prefer the PQ of the Viewsonic over the Epson because of the more film-like image (VS is smoother and sharper), but a case could be made for either since the 8350 can do darker blacks with the IRIS (although not hugely darker). The Viewsonic has a 3-year warranty.

The Viewsonic has better color OOTB than the HD20, and probably better than the Epson's if you compare it after 1000 hours on the lamp. The Viewsonic calibrates nearly perfectly (and is actually very good OOTB with a red push in dark scenes that fades away completely once the lamp wears in). The Viewsonic lamps tend to last longer and stay brighter longer, but so far there are very few lamp issues in the Viewsonic thread. I can tell you this, at 1300 hours on my VS lamp, the thing is still brighter than a new Optoma hd20 and far brighter than the Epson 8350 in best mode.

The Viewsonic has to be ceiling mounted, but it should fit just fine in your room with no adjustments.

Keep in mind different projectors have different zoom and throw abilities (some require more space for the equiv image). The Viewsonic does it more easily than the hd20, and even though the 8350 has more mounting flexibility, it is MUCH larger and the fans are in the back on the 8350 so the size of screen you can do is about the same from your distance, and the hd20 is probably too tight of a fit. The Viewsonic's smaller size and exhaust and intake being on the side instead of the back is an advantage though. I wish all PJ MFR's would put the fans on the side.

This is pretty easy IMHO out of those three given your room and partial use during some ambient light. The Viewsonic smokes all these in brightness when you consider bright + accurate color, and it would be my pick for several reasons, but it'll be so bright at first you will need an ND filter which tames the brightness. The ND filter is only an extra $50, but you can get cheaper ones. You will be able to remove the ND filter after about 200 to 400 or so hours on the lamp.

Whenever you blow up an image that larger than on a TV, you will notice defects more in a poor signal (even on cable), but it can compete against a TV for a bluray disc, and more importantly the overall immersiveness of the larger image blows the TV away. Black levels and dark scenes won't be quite as rich on the projector, but immersion is the key.

The 8350 has darker blacks than the Viewsonic and better placement flexibility, but the Viewsonic is sharper and better for gaming. DLP has better motion for sports IMHO with a clean signal, but motion isn't really a factor on either for most people. The Viewsonic has a higher pixel fill over the 8350, meaning a smoother image. The Viewsonic cannot get dust blobs. I prefer the PQ of the Viewsonic over the Epson because of the more film-like image (VS is smoother and sharper), but a case could be made for either since the 8350 can do darker blacks with the IRIS (although not hugely darker). The Viewsonic has a 3-year warranty.

The Viewsonic has better color OOTB than the HD20, and probably better than the Epson's if you compare it after 1000 hours on the lamp. The Viewsonic calibrates nearly perfectly (and is actually very good OOTB with a red push in dark scenes that fades away completely once the lamp wears in). The Viewsonic lamps tend to last longer and stay brighter longer, but so far there are very few lamp issues in the Viewsonic thread. I can tell you this, at 1300 hours on my VS lamp, the thing is still brighter than a new Optoma hd20 and far brighter than the Epson 8350 in best mode.

The Viewsonic has to be ceiling mounted, but it should fit just fine in your room with no adjustments.

Keep in mind different projectors have different zoom and throw abilities (some require more space for the equiv image). The Viewsonic does it more easily than the hd20, and even though the 8350 has more mounting flexibility, it is MUCH larger and the fans are in the back on the 8350 so the size of screen you can do is about the same from your distance, and the hd20 is probably too tight of a fit. The Viewsonic's smaller size and exhaust and intake being on the side instead of the back is an advantage though. I wish all PJ MFR's would put the fans on the side.

WOW. That was a great post with a lot of info. THANKS A TON "coderguy"! When I originally made my post I was leaning towards the Viewsonic over the other two and your post just confirms that now. The 3 year warranty really does help IMO and the dust blob issue with the Epson 8350 does raise some concern. Although I know the lag time on the 8350 was pretty good for gaming for an LCD.

I will pretty much be feeding this projector everything through hdmi and at the worst 720p for sports broadcasts so I think PQ should be damn good. I don't really watch regular cable a lot so its mostly some sort of Hi-Def material being watched so I should be good although I understand the concept of larger screen will showing more flaws in the poor input material. The only negative thing I read about the Viewsonic was there were some firmware issues early on that were apparently fixed? Is that right?

Any recommendations on a ND filter for my use then coderguy ?

Also Im a newb to projectors so If Im understanding you correctly then I basically have to mount the projector at a specific distance to get a certain size image?

Any link to a guide or calculator of some sort? FYI I will be projecting on a 92" fixed screen. It says the Viewsonic is has a 1.5x zoom and a throw ratio of 1.46 - 2.2... not sure what that means or how it affects where to mount the projector.

Ok so I used the calculator linked below after my above post and punched in 16:9 92" screen with the PRO8200 and it gave me a throw range of 11'3".... so what exactly does that mean? That I need to mount the projector at 11'3" for a 92" screen or is that the minimum distance required for the projector to output a 92" screen?

I think you entered one of the numbers incorrectly (you probably entered width instead of diag size). For a 92" screen, that calculator and the calculator I programmed in my signature agree within a couple inches.

It is the minimum distance from the projector's lens to the screen.

For a 92" screen, the minimum mounting distance is 9 feet 6 inches from the screen to the projector's lens (could be 9 feet 4 inches, but I measured it myself and play it safe on the numbers). The mounting bracket would be drilled a few inches back from that. However, I would mount it as far back to the wall as you can go. Since the Viewsonic fans are on the side, you don't need much room behind the projector, only 2-4 inches or so for the cables. I'd say mount it 4 inches from the back of the projector to the wall to be safe, but the actual mounting bracket would be drilled a few inches forward from the back of the projector since the mount generally goes in the middle of the projector (there are exact measurements in one of the VS manuals if you need it, or just measure the holes yourself when you get the mount and the PJ).

Most of the firmware issues were minor, but in the newer batches the issues were fixed. I own an older model firmware NON-patched, and the only problem I have is 3 of the color settings are sometimes reset and it takes 10 seconds to set it back. I think this was fixed, never had any other problem with the unit to speak of.

Also, the Viewsonic has a nice feature that the Epson doesn't have, that is Digital Zoom, you can zoom the black bars to a smaller size digitally if you want to shrink them (it does cut-off the sides of the image though). I use that feature on occassion for a 2.35 bluray to show a bigger image on my 16:9 screen, a feature every PJ needs IMHO.

I think you entered one of the numbers incorrectly (you probably entered width instead of diag size). For a 92" screen, that calculator and the calculator I programmed in my signature agree within a couple inches.

It is the minimum distance from the projector's lens to the screen.

For a 92" screen, the minimum mounting distance is 9 feet 6 inches from the screen to the projector's lens (could be 9 feet 4 inches, but I measured it myself and play it safe on the numbers). The mounting bracket would be drilled a few inches back from that. However, I would mount it as far back to the wall as you can go. Since the Viewsonic fans are on the side, you don't need much room behind the projector, only 2-4 inches or so for the cables. I'd say mount it 4 inches from the back of the projector to the wall to be safe, but the actual mounting bracket would be drilled a few inches forward from the back of the projector since the mount generally goes in the middle of the projector (there are exact measurements in one of the VS manuals if you need it, or just measure the holes yourself when you get the mount and the PJ).

Most of the firmware issues were minor, but in the newer batches the issues were fixed. I own an older model firmware NON-patched, and the only problem I have is 3 of the color settings are sometimes reset and it takes 10 seconds to set it back. I think this was fixed, never had any other problem with the unit to speak of.

Also, the Viewsonic has a nice feature that the Epson doesn't have, that is Digital Zoom, you can zoom the black bars to a smaller size digitally if you want to shrink them (it does cut-off the sides of the image though). I use that feature on occassion for a 2.35 bluray to show a bigger image on my 16:9 screen, a feature every PJ needs IMHO.

Thanks again for the post but Im getting conflicting info from the two calculators now. The calculator in your sig is saying 9'4". The Viewsonic one is still giving me 11'4".

I put in 92" diagonally on both for 16:9 screen.... what gives? Perhaps I am reading the output from the calculator's incorrectly ?

Either way I guess its not that big of an issue now that I understand what exactly throw distance is. I will leave 4-6 inches behind the projector from the back wall and just ceiling mount it there.

Can I adjust the image from the projector side to side at all with this projector or should I have the PJ mounted at exact centre to the screen?

Cocerguy, not to hijack the thread but this is of interest to me because I have a similar sized room, a bit bigger though with about 13' between the screen and projector. I'm planning on a 106" fixed frame screen, ceiling-mounted and will be using it for movies, sports and more general TV watching than gaming. No windows in the room, but some ambient light will come in from the stairs leading to the level above.

I had narrowed my choices down to the Epson 8350 and Panny PT-AR100, but was leaning to the Panny given that I would not be fully light controlled and because I've seen a lot of reports on dust blobs and other issues with the Epson. Plus, until lately, the Panny was a few hundred bucks cheaper.

Would you recommend the 8350 or even the Viewsonic over the Panny in my situation?

Yeah, you're reading it wrong. The viewsonic is giving you a range. The shortest throw is 9' 4". Coderguy's calc is showing 9' 6".

^^^ Cool Thanks for confirming!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jobu604

Cocerguy, not to hijack the thread but this is of interest to me because I have a similar sized room, a bit bigger though with about 13' between the screen and projector. I'm planning on a 106" fixed frame screen, ceiling-mounted and will be using it for movies, sports and more general TV watching than gaming. No windows in the room, but some ambient light will come in from the stairs leading to the level above.

I had narrowed my choices down to the Epson 8350 and Panny PT-AR100, but was leaning to the Panny given that I would not be fully light controlled and because I've seen a lot of reports on dust blobs and other issues with the Epson. Plus, until lately, the Panny was a few hundred bucks cheaper.

Would you recommend the 8350 or even the Viewsonic over the Panny in my situation?

^^^ I thought about the Panny at one point as well but the 1 year warranty kind of kills it for me. A 2 year warranty IMO is much better. Add to that the Panny has the worst rated lamp of that bunch (pretty much half the life and your value per dollar really drops. IMO if you don't have windows in the room your putting your PJ then the Epson 8350 should be just fine in terms of light output. My room above clearly has way more ambient then you describe. The biggest reason to get the Panny is if you have tons of ambient light and need an absolute light cannon to overpower the ambient light. The blacks I think are comparable on the Epson and the Panny. Both are better then Viewsonic and Optoma from my understanding in the black department.

I know the Epson has some dust blob issues but at least you know you have Epson customer service to fall back on even repeatedly if need be. And they replace your lamp if it fails within the two years.

Im obviously targeting in on a lower price range as well. But I thought I would share my thoughts from everything I have been reading on PJ's from my research.

^^^ I thought about the Panny at one point as well but the 1 year warranty kind of kills it for me. A 2 year warranty IMO is much better. Add to that the Panny has the worst rated lamp of that bunch (pretty much half the life and your value per dollar really drops. IMO if you don't have windows in the room your putting your PJ then the Epson 8350 should be just fine in terms of light output. My room above clearly has way more ambient then you describe. The biggest reason to get the Panny is if you have tons of ambient light and need an absolute light cannon to overpower the ambient light. The blacks I think are comparable on the Epson and the Panny. Both are better then Viewsonic and Optoma from my understanding in the black department.

I know the Epson has some dust blob issues but at least you know you have Epson customer service to fall back on even repeatedly if need be. And they replace your lamp if it fails within the two years.

Im obviously targeting in on a lower price range as well. But I thought I would share my thoughts from everything I have been reading on PJ's from my research.

Thanks, I appreciate the advice. Good point on the warranty and bulb life. Now the Epson is even cheaper in most places than the Panny as well.

Thanks, I appreciate the advice. Good point on the warranty and bulb life. Now the Epson is even cheaper in most places than the Panny as well.

No problem. I would take my advice with a grain of salt though, lol, Im a beginner at this just learning the world of projectors. This forum is a huge wealth of information. From a value point of view the Epson wins over the Panny. The #1 reason the Panny should be considered over the Epson is if you need the extra ought output and based on your description of your room I don't think you need it. And since there both LCD PJ's there is no DLP vs. LCD debate to consider either. Although I know the Epson 8350 has a pretty good lag time for a LCD PJ. Not sure about the Panny in that regard.

The blacks are only marginally better for the Epson 8350 over the Viewsonic Pro8200, mostly only in pitch black scenes, when there are mixed scenes it's going to be close. Even in a movie like Harry Potter, the VS will be close to the Epson most of the time except on the darkest of dark scenes. The main advantage to the Viewsonic will be a sharper and smoother image and more film-like. It will beat both the Panny and Epson at those attributes (Panny might match it in sharpness but I doubt it as most LCD's are not as sharp as the Viewsonic, and the VS will be smoother and more film-like still). This is because DLP has tighter pixels and looks more analog than LCD.

On a DLP especially, some of the black levels depends where you mount it though, closer up gives more brightness, mounting farther back increases black levels (not just because mounting farther is dimmer, but it actually increases the contrast). I know in some reviews they note the Epson is a lot better at blacks, but it's really a tiny difference unless we are talking the Epson 5010/8700ub. To get a significant boost in black levels, the 8700ub or Benq w6000 would be the next jump to where you would notice it in many movies if going from one room to the next and not split-screening.

It might we worth noting that I own a $3000 JVC as well, so I know what really good blacks look like, and the VS are actually better than the Optoma hd20 and most other projectors in its price range. The Mits hc4000 or Epson 8350 I think are the only two that really beat it for blacks in this price range.

The blacks are only marginally better for the Epson 8350 over the Viewsonic Pro8200, mostly only in pitch black scenes, when there are mixed scenes it's going to be close. Even in a movie like Harry Potter, the VS will be close to the Epson most of the time except on the darkest of dark scenes. The main advantage to the Viewsonic will be a sharper and smoother image and more film-like. It will beat both the Panny and Epson at those attributes (Panny might match it in sharpness but I doubt it as most LCD's are not as sharp as the Viewsonic, and the VS will be smoother and more film-like still). This is because DLP has tighter pixels and looks more analog than LCD.

On a DLP especially, some of the black levels depends where you mount it though, closer up gives more brightness, mounting farther back increases black levels (not just because mounting farther is dimmer, but it actually increases the contrast). I know in some reviews they note the Epson is a lot better at blacks, but it's really a tiny difference unless we are talking the Epson 5010/8700ub. To get a significant boost in black levels, the 8700ub or Benq w6000 would be the next jump to where you would notice it in many movies if going from one room to the next and not split-screening.

It might we worth noting that I own a $3000 JVC as well, so I know what really good blacks look like, and the VS are actually better than the Optoma hd20 and most other projectors in its price range. The Mits hc4000 or Epson 8350 I think are the only two that really beat it for blacks in this price range.

Cool. more valuable information. Just a couple more questions if you don't mind...

Can I adjust the image from the projector side to side at all with this projector or should I have the PJ mounted at exact centre to the screen?

Also, any recommendations or links to a good ND filter?

I think I might pick up a Disney wOw disc to help calibrate (good idea?)...

Needs to be mounted at exact HORIZONTAL center for sure, some projectors have Lens shift like the Epson 8350 and then can be mounted to the side, but it is still better to mount it at center point. There are some ND filter posts in the OFFICIAL Viewsonic Pro8200 thread from BSE53 (I think that is his name). B&H Photo and Video has some, shoot them an email or give them call, I think they sell some cheap ones too. You need the lens measurements, I don't have the measurement on me.

It should also be noted that any new projector buyer would be blown away by almost any decent projector, including an Epson 8350, but I personally think that the DLP and LCOS look of a smoother and sharper picture are better than LCD. There is a honeymoon period with a projector where owning a giant screen like that is just so amazing that it doesn't matter how the PQ looks. Once that honeymoon wears off, you start to notice some of the intricate details of where a more expensive projector might offer improvements. You'd be surprised though how incremental the improvements are from a $3000 projector compared to a $1000 one, it's mostly black levels, a little bit of sharpness (only a tiny bit), and sometimes even bright scenes look a little better on more expensive projectors. There are some scenes where they look relatively the same, depends on the scene.

The Viewsonic blows away the projectors from back in the old days (2005 to 2008) in this price range, when you consider the Viewsonic has D65 color at 1300+ lumens and can still do decent contrast at 1080p for under $1000. In the old days, 1080p cost us $3,000+ for 500 lumens!

The Viewsonic's color accuracy is what I am most impressed with and was the biggest surprise for me, as it easily beats my $3000 JVC in color accuracy, it definitely rivals and gets close to some of the most accurate projectors in color after only a little tuning. It needs NO GAMMA adjustments either, the gamma is perfectly calibrated OOTB at 2.2 just by picking the Gamma 1 preset in STD mode. This makes a huge difference for people that do not know how to calibrate a projector. Initially there is some overly strong REDS, but it will fade into place very nicely with some lamp wear.

Needs to be mounted at exact HORIZONTAL center for sure, some projectors have Lens shift like the Epson 8350 and then can be mounted to the side, but it is still better to mount it at center point. There are some ND filter posts in the OFFICIAL Viewsonic Pro8200 thread from BSE53 (I think that is his name). B&H Photo and Video has some, shoot them an email or give them call, I think they sell some cheap ones too. You need the lens measurements, I don't have the measurement on me.

It should also be noted that any new projector buyer would be blown away by almost any decent projector, including an Epson 8350, but I personally think that the DLP and LCOS look of a smoother and sharper picture are better than LCD. There is a honeymoon period with a projector where owning a giant screen like that is just so amazing that it doesn't matter how the PQ looks. Once that honeymoon wears off, you start to notice some of the intricate details of where a more expensive projector might offer improvements. You'd be surprised though how incremental the improvements are from a $3000 projector compared to a $1000 one, it's mostly black levels, a little bit of sharpness (only a tiny bit), and sometimes even bright scenes look a little better on more expensive projectors. There are some scenes where they look relatively the same, depends on the scene.

Quote:

Originally Posted by coderguy

The Viewsonic blows away the projectors from back in the old days (2005 to 2008) in this price range, when you consider the Viewsonic has D65 color at 1300+ lumens and can still do decent contrast at 1080p for under $1000. In the old days, 1080p cost us $3,000+ for 500 lumens!

The Viewsonic's color accuracy is what I am most impressed with and was the biggest surprise for me, as it easily beats my $3000 JVC in color accuracy, it definitely rivals and gets close to some of the most accurate projectors in color after only a little tuning. It needs NO GAMMA adjustments either, the gamma is perfectly calibrated OOTB at 2.2 just by picking the Gamma 1 preset in STD mode. This makes a huge difference for people that do not know how to calibrate a projector. Initially there is some overly strong REDS, but it will fade into place very nicely with some lamp wear.

^^^ Ok, Thanks for all the info and help coderguy. I think Im all set.

Now that I have the projector all settled up Im confused about which screen material to go with.

I was thinking of doing DIY but some of the budget screens out there are pretty close in cost.

I am definitely looking for a 92" fixed screen. But I started reading about white vs. grey screens and I don't know which to go with now given my room and projector. I think i could benefit from a grey screen with the ambient light in my room but then again I can control the ambient pretty good too although there will be some regardless in the day hours....

any suggestion on wether to get a white or grey screen for my application, coderguy? gain... stick close to 1.0 ?

1) The gray screen will help preserve ANSI contrast and help a little with contrast in ambient light since you have mid-color walls. Tan walls are not nearly as bad as white walls.

2) The projector is too bright at first for your screen size, if you do a mildly negative gain gray screen, you can remove the ND filter quicker or maybe get away without an ND filter. You will not buy the ND filter right away anyhow, get everything setup first then worry about the ND filter last.

I definitely would not do LESS than 0.8 gain or around there. www.projectorzone.com sometimes has good deals on screens.

I am not sure which budget gray screens are best, Elite Cinegray is one but overall I am not a huge fan of some cheap Elite screens (cannot speak to their more expensive materials though). Keep in mind that pulldown screens are very cheap and at your size the screen will be relatively inexpensive for a pulldown anyhow. Try to get a pulldown with a black frame instead of a white one as I think the black ones look better (the white ones look kind of ghetto depending on the room).

A fixed frame or motorized will cost more, although at 92" even fixed or motorized aren't all that expensive. I would go with a Da-Lite brand if you can can afford it. I know some Da-Lites can easily be had at that size for well under $150 for a manual pulldown.

That frame only comes in white though, I would just look around for a good gray screen or check the screen forum postings. HCCV (High Contrast Cinema Vision) is what Da-Lite's gray screen material used to be called, not sure if that is still what is being sold. I think that would be my pick, the Da-Lite HCCV if you can get it cheap enough, otherwise second is probably either the Elite Gray or Draper Gray screen. A Stewart or Vutec gray would be slightly better, but way too expensive.

1) The gray screen will help preserve ANSI contrast and help a little with contrast in ambient light since you have mid-color walls. Tan walls are not nearly as bad as white walls.

2) The projector is too bright at first for your screen size, if you do a mildly negative gain gray screen, you can remove the ND filter quicker or maybe get away without an ND filter. You will not buy the ND filter right away anyhow, get everything setup first then worry about the ND filter last.

I definitely would not do LESS than 0.8 gain or around there. www.projectorzone.com sometimes has good deals on screens.

I am not sure which budget gray screens are best, Elite Cinegray is one but overall I am not a huge fan of some cheap Elite screens (cannot speak to their more expensive materials though). Keep in mind that pulldown screens are very cheap and at your size the screen will be relatively inexpensive for a pulldown anyhow. Try to get a pulldown with a black frame instead of a white one as I think the black ones look better (the white ones look kind of ghetto depending on the room).

A fixed frame or motorized will cost more, although at 92" even fixed or motorized aren't all that expensive. I would go with a Da-Lite brand if you can can afford it. I know some Da-Lites can easily be had at that size for well under $150 for a manual pulldown.

Hope that helps...

Quote:

Originally Posted by coderguy

I didn't see a gray screen in Da-Lite's offerings from that site, but here was a Draper Gray Screen for a great price:

That frame only comes in white though, I would just look around for a good gray screen or check the screen forum postings. HCCV (High Contrast Cinema Vision) is what Da-Lite's gray screen material used to be called, not sure if that is still what is being sold. I think that would be my pick, the Da-Lite HCCV if you can get it cheap enough, otherwise second is probably either the Elitre Gray or Draper Gray screen. A Stewart or Vutec gray would be slightly better, but way too expensive.

cool Ill take a look around on that website and see what I can find. I am definitely looking for a fixed screen not a manual pulldown. Ill look into Da-Lite and Elite and see if I can fit them into the budget.

I'm in a similar situation as well, but have a longer room to work with. That's why I'm highly considering the Viewsonic.
Projector Central has a calculator and also is giving a drop distance.http://www.projectorcentral.com/View...ulator-pro.htm
I was toying with the idea of the Acer H6500, $780 at NewEgg. Very similar perhaps, but no real reviewing yet. I wonder what the color wheel is like to the VS, and I have a hunch the blacks could be better on the Acer. I can wait a bit longer to see if anyone compares the two.

DIY silver screen... I was in that forum a bit too, looking at Spandex world silver spandex (there are a couple posts with links to the fabric). Some say it works well, but I'd like to know more. Easier than paint that's for sure.

I'm in a similar situation as well, but have a longer room to work with. That's why I'm highly considering the Viewsonic.
Projector Central has a calculator and also is giving a drop distance.http://www.projectorcentral.com/View...ulator-pro.htm
I was toying with the idea of the Acer H6500, $780 at NewEgg. Very similar perhaps, but no real reviewing yet. I wonder what the color wheel is like to the VS, and I have a hunch the blacks could be better on the Acer. I can wait a bit longer to see if anyone compares the two.

DIY silver screen... I was in that forum a bit too, looking at Spandex world silver spandex (there are a couple posts with links to the fabric). Some say it works well, but I'd like to know more. Easier than paint that's for sure.

Yeah I hear you. It can get confusing quick with projector choices out there. From what I can tell the Acer has only 1 year warranty in comparison to the 3 years of the Viewsonic and its rated about 1000 hours less on the lamp if this concerns you at all.

As for as better blacks... the Acer has a 1000:1 contrast rations whereas the Viewsonic is 4000:1... so the Viewsonic looks better on paper at least. Also the Viewsonic can zoom 1.5x (twice as much) whereas the Acer is only 1.2x.

Also don't quote me on it but Im pretty sure the 5 segment colour wheel on the Viewsonic is better then the Acer's... but again Im not sure.

Not putting the Acer down but on paper I think the Viewsonic is better. Might be a different story in real life.